In vertebrate animals, the heart is a hollow muscular organ having four pumping chambers as seen in FIG. 1—the left and right atria and the left and right ventricles, each provided with its own one-way valve. The natural heart valves are identified as the aortic, mitral (or bicuspid), tricuspid and pulmonary, and are each mounted in an annulus comprising dense fibrous rings attached either directly or indirectly to the atrial and ventricular muscle fibers. Each annulus defines a flow orifice.
The atria are the blood-receiving chambers, which pump blood into the ventricles. The ventricles are the blood-discharging chambers. A wall composed of fibrous and muscular parts, called the interatrial septum separates the right and left atria (see FIGS. 2 to 4). The fibrous interatrial septum is a materially stronger tissue structure compared to the more friable muscle tissue of the heart. An anatomic landmark on the interatrial septum is an oval, thumbprint sized depression called the oval fossa, or fossa ovalis (shown in FIG. 4).
The synchronous pumping actions of the left and right sides of the heart constitute the cardiac cycle. The cycle begins with a period of ventricular relaxation, called ventricular diastole. The cycle ends with a period of ventricular contraction, called ventricular systole. The four valves (see FIGS. 2 and 3) ensure that blood does not flow in the wrong direction during the cardiac cycle; that is, to ensure that the blood does not back flow from the ventricles into the corresponding atria, or back flow from the arteries into the corresponding ventricles. The mitral valve is between the left atrium and the left ventricle, the tricuspid valve between the right atrium and the right ventricle, the pulmonary valve is at the opening of the pulmonary artery, and the aortic valve is at the opening of the aorta.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show the anterior (A) portion of the mitral valve annulus abutting the non-coronary leaflet of the aortic valve. The mitral valve annulus is in the vicinity of the circumflex branch of the left coronary artery, and the posterior (P) side is near the coronary sinus and its tributaries.
The mitral and tricuspid valves are defined by fibrous rings of collagen, each called an annulus, which forms a part of the fibrous skeleton of the heart. The annulus provides peripheral attachments for the two cusps or leaflets of the mitral valve (called the anterior and posterior cusps) and the three cusps or leaflets of the tricuspid valve. The free edges of the leaflets connect to chordae tendineae from more than one papillary muscle, as seen in FIG. 1. In a healthy heart, these muscles and their tendinous chords support the mitral and tricuspid valves, allowing the leaflets to resist the high pressure developed during contractions (pumping) of the left and right ventricles.
When the left ventricle contracts after filling with blood from the left atrium, the walls of the ventricle move inward and release some of the tension from the papillary muscle and chords. The blood pushed up against the under-surface of the mitral leaflets causes them to rise toward the annulus plane of the mitral valve. As they progress toward the annulus, the leading edges of the anterior and posterior leaflet come together forming a seal and closing the valve. In the healthy heart, leaflet coaptation occurs near the plane of the mitral annulus. The blood continues to be pressurized in the left ventricle until it is ejected into the aorta. Contraction of the papillary muscles is simultaneous with the contraction of the ventricle and serves to keep healthy valve leaflets tightly shut at peak contraction pressures exerted by the ventricle.
Various surgical techniques may be used to repair a diseased or damaged valve. In a valve replacement operation, the damaged leaflets are excised and the annulus sculpted to receive a replacement valve. Due to aortic stenosis and other heart valve diseases, thousands of patients undergo surgery each year wherein the defective native heart valve is replaced by a prosthetic valve, either bioprosthetic or mechanical. Another less drastic method for treating defective valves is through repair or reconstruction, which is typically used on minimally calcified valves. The problem with surgical therapy is the significant insult it imposes on these chronically ill patients with high morbidity and mortality rates associated with surgical repair.
When the valve is replaced, surgical implantation of the prosthetic valve typically requires an open-chest surgery during which the heart is stopped and patient placed on cardiopulmonary bypass (a so-called “heart-lung machine”). In one common surgical procedure, the diseased native valve leaflets are excised and a prosthetic valve is sutured to the surrounding tissue at the valve annulus. Because of the trauma associated with the procedure and the attendant duration of extracorporeal blood circulation, some patients do not survive the surgical procedure or die shortly thereafter. It is well known that the risk to the patient increases with the amount of time required on extracorporeal circulation. Due to these risks, a substantial number of patients with defective valves are deemed inoperable because their condition is too frail to withstand the procedure. By some estimates, about 30 to 50% of the subjects suffering from aortic stenosis who are older than 80 years cannot be operated on for aortic valve replacement.
Because of the drawbacks associated with conventional open-heart surgery, percutaneous and minimally-invasive surgical approaches are garnering intense attention. In one technique, a prosthetic valve is configured to be implanted in a much less invasive procedure by way of catheterization. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,552 to Andersen et al. describes a collapsible valve percutaneously introduced in a compressed state through a catheter and expanded in the desired position by balloon inflation. Although these remote implantation techniques have shown great promise for treating certain patients, replacing a valve via surgical intervention is still the preferred treatment procedure. One hurdle to the acceptance of remote implantation is resistance from doctors who are understandably anxious about converting from an effective, if imperfect, regimen to a novel approach that promises great outcomes but is relatively foreign. In conjunction with the understandable caution exercised by surgeons in switching to new techniques of heart valve replacement, regulatory bodies around the world are moving slowly as well. Numerous successful clinical trials and follow-up studies are in process, but much more experience with these new technologies will be required before they are completely accepted.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved device and associated method of use wherein a prosthetic valve can be surgically implanted in a body channel in a more efficient procedure that reduces the time required on extracorporeal circulation. It is desirable that such a device and method be capable of helping patients with defective valves that are deemed inoperable because their condition is too frail to withstand a lengthy conventional surgical procedure.
Furthermore, surgeons relate that one of the most difficult tasks when attempting minimally invasive heart valve implantation or implantation through a small incision is tying the suture knots that hold the valve in position. A typical aortic valve implant utilizes 12-24 sutures (commonly 15) distributed evenly around and manually tied on one side of the sewing ring. The knots directly behind the commissure posts are particularly challenging because of space constraints. Eliminating the need to tie suture knots or even reducing the number of knots to those that are more accessible would greatly facilitate the use of smaller incisions that reduces infection risk, reduces the need for blood transfusions and allows more rapid recovery compared to patients whose valves are implanted through the full sternotomy commonly used for heart valve implantation.
The present invention addresses these needs and others.